


Anchor

by honestmischief



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Birthday Presents, Bucky Barnes & Steve Rogers Friendship, Bucky Barnes Remembers, Gen, Light Angst, No Dialogue, Post-Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Steve is only mentioned, steve's birthday
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-04
Updated: 2020-07-04
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:27:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 831
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25061614
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/honestmischief/pseuds/honestmischief
Summary: James’ memory still wasn’t good, but there were two things that he knew were important: Steve Rogers and July 4th.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes & Steve Rogers
Comments: 2
Kudos: 7





	Anchor

**Author's Note:**

> thank you Ladra from the collabcupid server for beta-reading this! <3

James (that was his name, he had to keep reminding himself) stopped at the store to pick up a newspaper. The date written on the corner of the page said “July 4, 2014.” There was something about that date that sparked a feeling of recognition, but James didn’t know what it meant. Sometimes he was able to figure it out, but there were times when he wasn’t able to. 

Random memories of another man often appeared in his mind, but they were incomplete and usually didn’t make much sense. It felt like he was looking through the eyes of another person when he remembered something that happened before HYDRA. He knew that he was James Buchanan Barnes, but sometimes it felt like the man who went by that name was long gone. That was why he left Washington, DC. 

James’ brain kept replaying the date over and over again as he walked down the street. It didn’t leave his head when he returned home, and he suspected that it was never going to. This date was important, and he had to figure out why, if his brain decided to cooperate. 

After some research, he found out that July 4th was Independence Day in America. That sounded familiar; he had a vague memory of watching fireworks every year before the war. He also knew that he wasn’t alone when he saw them. There was a shorter man by his side. 

The short, skinny, blonde man was a constant in all of the memories. Remembering things that had been repressed for so long always brought a sick feeling to James’ stomach, but it was comforting to see the same person each time. Seeing him kept James in place, like an anchor. It was the same man that he recognized on the bridge in Washington, DC, and the same man he pulled out from the river. The same man from the museum, who was pictured as both short and tall. Steve Rogers. Captain America. 

James knew him. He didn’t remember everything and didn’t know if he ever would. B ut there were two things that James knew were important: Steve Rogers and July 4th. 

Steve Rogers was known as Captain America, so it made sense that he would be associated with America’s Independence Day, but James had a gut feeling that there was more to it than that. He wouldn’t have had that strong of a reaction to seeing that it was a holiday. 

He remembered baking a cake. Vanilla, because that was Steve’s favorite. James couldn’t remember his own favorite flavor of cake, but he knew Steve’s. His memory was weird like that. He remembered sharing the cake with Steve while he was short, so this had to have happened before the war. There were fireworks on the same day. 

James had given Steve a gift, a sketchbook and some drawing pencils, because he liked to draw. Sometimes, Steve liked to draw James, and James remembered keeping each drawing that Steve gave him. He wished that he still had them. 

Gifts and cake happened on birthdays, James remembered. July 4th had to have been Steve’s birthday. 

James winced upon the realization. He didn’t want Steve to spend his birthday alone. He remembered Steve had always insisted that he didn’t need his company, but James had always seen right through it. Steve wanted to be loved and appreciated on the day that was all about him, and that’s exactly what James did every year. 

Steve was an Avenger, part of a close group of heroes that fought and lived together. James was no hero; he’d wanted to be decades ago, some even still considered him one, but he knew that he wasn’t. The Asset’s memories were fresher than James Buchanen Barnes’. 

James hoped that Steve was having a nice celebration with his friends. He hoped that someone baked him a vanilla cake with vanilla frosting to feed his sweet tooth. James wondered if Steve still liked to draw. He was sure that he’d still be good at it. Did Steve still like to draw him, after everything that he had done? 

James was surprised that he wished that he was there to celebrate with Steve. It was a ridiculous thought. He wasn’t the same person that Steve had known his whole life. He wanted to save him from feeling disappointed. 

After contemplating for hours, James went to the store and bought a sketchbook and drawing pencils. When he returned to his apartment, he placed the gift in a box and carefully wrapped it in blue wrapping paper. Once again, he knew Steve’s favorite color even though he didn’t know his own. He then put together the package and brought it to the post office, without putting a return address on it. James was confident that Steve would know who it was from. 

James wasn’t ready to see Steve again, but he hoped that the birthday gift would help Steve feel better while he waited. 

**Author's Note:**

> a quick thing i wrote when i realized it's steve's birthday :)


End file.
